Couple Indemnity

Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky (2005)

This week Hal has selected the BBC three-part period drama Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, a story of unrequited love set in the 1930's, against the backdrop of grimy streets and public houses. 
Revolving around The Midnight Bell, a public house off the Euston Road, it follows the painful pursuit of love from three different perspectives. Barman Bob (Bryan Dick), who yearns for penniless street-walker Jenny (Zoe Tapper). Bob's colleague Ella (Sally Hawkins), who is torn between the attentions of an older, wealthier man and her secret desire for her barman workmate.
Director: Simon Curtis

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

Izzy has gone big on the romance scale with her selection this week and has chosen The Bridges of Madison County, a moving love story about a photographer (Clint Eastwood) on assignment to shoot the historic bridges of Madison County. He meets a housewife (Meryl Streep), whose husband and children are away on a trip, and the film traces a brief affair that is never sordid but instead one of two soul mates who have met later in life.
Director: Clint Eastwood
 

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Hal has selected the classic legal mystery drama Witness for the Prosecution this week, directed by one of our favourites in Billy Wilder.
The plot centres around an ailing famous barrister (Charles Laughton) who agrees to defend a man (Tyrone Power) in a sensational murder trial where his self-possessed wife’s unconvincing testimony confuses him.
Director: Billy Wilder

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Izzy has really stepped up her podcast selection game this week by choosing Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Indy (Harrison Ford) and his feisty ex-flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) dodge booby-traps, fight enemies and stare down snakes in their incredible worldwide quest for the mystical Ark of the Covenant. Experience one exciting cliff-hanger after another when you discover adventure with the one and only Indiana Jones.
Director: Steven Spielberg

Strangers on a Train (1951)

We are back with another cracker in the Alfred Hitchcock marathon and this week Hal has selected Strangers on a Train (1951), the film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel. 
Tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is enraged by his wife's refusal to finalise their divorce so he can wed senator's daughter Anne (Ruth Roman). He strikes up a conversation with a stranger, Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), and unwittingly sets in motion a deadly chain of events. Psychopathic Bruno kills Guy's wife, then urges Guy to reciprocate by killing Bruno's father. Meanwhile, Guy is murder suspect number one.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Izzy has gone all Arthouse this week and selected the highly acclaimed French historical romance ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’.
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
Director: Celine Sciamma

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

Hal has come back with another of his heavy-hitters this week by selecting the powerful romantic drama starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, depicting the downward spiral of two average Americans who succumb to alcoholism and their repeated attempts to deal with their problems. 
Director: Blake Edwards

Annie (1999)

Izzy has practically transported us in a time-machine to her childhood by selecting the 1999 made-for-television adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Annie, the young girl (Alicia Morton) living a “hard-knock life” in an orphanage. Fed up with the dastardly Miss Hannigan (Kathy Bates), Annie escapes the run-down orphanage determined to find her mom and dad. It’s an adventure that takes her from the cold, mean streets of New York to the warm, comforting arms of bighearted billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Victor Garber) - with plenty of mischief and music in between.
Director: Rob Marshall

The Master (2012)

For a special one-off episode, we have taken a trip to the cinema to see yet another Paul Thomas Anderson highly-acclaimed film The Master (2012), telling the story of Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a WWII Navy Veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society, who meets Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the leader of a cult known as The Cause.
Dodd sees something in Quell and accepts him into the movement. Freddie takes a liking to The Cause and begins traveling with Dodd's family to spread his teachings.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Hal has returned to his love for Frank Capra this week and has chosen one of the most important political dramas from Hollywood history with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), about a naive, newly appointed and idealistic United States senator (James Stewart) who fights against government corruption. 
Director: Frank Capra